Flip Flop Transfer
by AM Caper
Summary: "Whatever you do, Blaine, do it for the right reasons. There's no timeline involved with facing your fear, so if you don't think you are ready, don't let anyone push you into it. Even if that someone is your boyfriend." Spoilers for 3.01


Author's Note: I wrote this for myself. Ever since I watched 3.01, I've been wondering how Blaine broke the news to the Warblers. I've also been wondering how he convinced his parents to let him transfer and how he broke it to them, but as I drove to work today, I got a flash of Blaine conferring with Wes and David about the issue. And so this was born. Originally, I was more curious as to how Blaine in particular told the Warblers, not about his decision making process, but this took on a life of its own and I went with it. Like I said, I wrote this for myself, to satisfy my own curiosity about what could have happened, so I don't expect reviews or anything. I just figured it should be shared.

The song lyrics at the beginning of the months are from Steve Carlson's "Where I'm Goin'". I think of the person the song refers to more as the whole transfer decision, not as Kurt. Also, I dislike reading things I've written, so this is unedited.

T because Blaine develops a bit of a potty mouth. Single quotes are text messages.

I don't own Glee.

* * *

><p><em>June<em>

_The first sign of trouble and I'm trying not to fall/You could be my enemy when all is said and done/But I'm making myself a friendly bet and I'm hoping you're the one. _

Blaine sat, morosely picking at the lid on his coffee, ignoring the chatter filling The Lima Bean.

"Blaine?...Blaine!" Wes peeked his head into Blaine's line of sight and frantically waved his head in front of him. "What's wrong with you?" he asked as Blaine finally glanced up. "You haven't been listening to a word David or I have been saying."

"Oh, sorry. Just spaced out for a second, go ahead." Blaine gave his friends an unconvincing smile and went back to fiddling with his coffee. David and Wes exchanged glances.

"We'll tell you about orientation later," David said slowly, frowning at the shorter boy. "First, you tell us what's up with you."

"Nothing is up," Blaine cheerily said, putting a mask on that didn't even begin to fool his best friends. "Work is great, I get paid to perform so it's absolutely perfect. You guys are back from LA so we'll be able to hang out before you go back for school. And Kurt is..." Blaine halted, smile faltering for a second. "Kurt is awesome. So tell me more about UCLA."

Wes rolled his eyes. "A) We all know you think performing at theme parks is humiliating, but we'll get back to that later, b) you missed us and are going to cry yourself to sleep when we go to college because there won't be anyone around that tolerates your obsession with jumping on furniture, and c) you are generally more verbose when it comes to Kurt, so let's tackle that. Problems in paradise?"

"I'm a gay kid living in Ohio," Blaine scoffed. "It's never paradise."

"Bitter avoidance doesn't suit you, Blaine." Wes leaned back in his chair cockily and took a sip of his latte, knowing he had found the source of Blaine's funk. "Please share what's really bothering you."

Blaine glared at Wes for a few second before sighing resignedly. "I told Kurt I love him," he mumbled into his cooling coffee.

David raised an eyebrow. "Okay...we know he loves you back so that isn't giving us much to go off of..."

Dropping his usually proper posture, Blaine slouched forward, resting his elbows on the table. "Yeah, he reciprocated," he signed as he placed his head in his hands.

"Are you going to make us guess?" David asked, some concern slipping into his voice.

"Just tell us, Blaine," Wes said gently, scooting his chair closer to his friend so he could lay a hand on his shoulder. "You'll feel better, just like you did after telling us about the..." Wes paused, searching for the right euphemism, "...issues you faced at your old school."

Slowly, Blaine ran his hands over his hair and sat up, staring straight ahead. "He wants me to transfer. Kurt wants me to leave Dalton and go to McKinley for our senior year."

An incredulous look of disbelief crossed David's face; he opened his mouth to ask what the big deal was, but stopped when Wes' foot pressed down sharply on his. He shot a glare at the perpetrator, who shook his head slightly, an uncharacteristic frown marring his face. Wes turned back to Blaine, who continued staring at the wall, face stoic but eyes filled with indecision and dread.

"Are you going to?" Wes quietly questioned.

Blaine blinked rapidly, tilted his head down, and returned to destroying his lid. "I don't know," he whispered, then quickly looked up at his friends. "What do you think I should do?"

"Don't," David said bluntly. "You're a shoe in for the council this year and the Warblers won't be able to function without you. It's your senior year, you can't just leave them and go to the rival!"

"Yeah, I...I had considered that," Blaine softly said, looking downward once again.

"Why don't you tell us your concerns about it, Blaine?" Wes stated, sensing there was more than school loyalty at stake here. "That can't be all there is to it if it is eating away at your this much."

"I just...I don't know what to do," Blaine whispered brokenly. "Kurt wants me to and I know when school starts we won't have as much time to spend together which will be hard because I love him. Being away from him is barely tolerable." Blaine stopped, a slight smile crossing his face as he reminisced.

"But?" David prompted, tearing Blaine out of his daydream. The smile left Blaine's face.

"I like Dalton and it will look better on college applications," he shrugged. "Not to mention I'll miss the Warblers. I like the New Directions but they aren't the same, and I'm looking forward to being on the council and..." he trailed off and crossed his arms tightly in front of him.

"I'm scared," Blaine stated, dropping his mask and allowing terror to find its way onto his face. "I'm so afraid that it will be like my old school."

David and Wes simultaneously leaned forward to console the teen who was slowly breaking down in front of them. "What if I get beat up again? What if they beat up Kurt? He's not one to hide who he is, if I transfer he's going to want to flaunt our relationship and I'm so scared they'll see it as wrong and punish us for it." Blaine couldn't stop the flow of words pouring from his mouth. "I don't...I don't know if I can go through the bullying again, the emotional and physical, I don't think I'm strong enough to stand up to them and defend myself, I can't...I-I can't break like I did before."

"Blaine." David pulled Blaine's head up until the younger boy's watery eyes met his own. "No one is making you transfer. If you do it, it has to be for yourself."

Blaine sucked in a deep breath and let it out shakily. "I know. I know that. That's the reason I'm so conflicted." He balled his hands into fists, terror turning to rage. "They had no right to do that to me, and they have no right keeping me from being who I am or from being with the person I love in public without being petrified of what will happen to us. I know I need to do this, I know I need to confront my fears and face the world but I can't get over my fear."

Wes looked contemplative for a moment, then slowly spoke into the silence. "Whatever you do, Blaine, do it for the right reasons. There's no timeline involved with facing your fear, so if you don't think you are ready, don't let anyone push you into it. Even if that someone is your boyfriend. If you want to stay at Dalton and enjoy your senior year with the Warblers, that's what you should do." Blaine looked up hopefully, believing his friend was giving him a solution to his dilemma. "But. If you want to transfer to McKinley and face your fear with the guy you love, then do that." Blaine exhaled and slumped down into his chair, conflict returning to his features.

"Whatever you do, we'll support you," David said lightly. "The Warblers might not understand your transferring to McKinley and Kurt might be pissed if you stay at Dalton, but we'll have your back."

A real smile broke out on Blaine's face, small, but real, as he looked at his friends with gratitude. "Thank you. You were right, Wes. I do feel better. And your support...it means a lot."

"Excellent!" Wes clapped his hands together and rubbed them together excitedly. "Now that we have that out of the way – and Blaine, seriously, you have all summer to decide so don't stress out about it too much right now – I want to hear about Blaine's escapades at Six Flags!"

Blaine groaned. "Can we please not talk about that?"

David grinned in a deceptively innocent way. "No, I think we must. What was going through your head when you decided you wanted a summer job there, Blaine? I seem to recall a couple weeks of hatred aimed toward King's Island after the Christmas Spectacular..."

"We're not talking about this," Blaine stated simply as he took a sip of coffee and wrinkled his nose at it's cold temperature.

"Fine," David said. Blaine looked at him suspiciously. "We'll watch it!" Wes whipped a laptop out of his bag and pulled up multiple videos of Blaine's Six Flags performances on YouTube. Blaine sighed in resignation as he got up to get a new coffee, feeling bittersweet about his friends' return.

* * *

><p><em>July<em>

_Please don't stop this elegant persuasion/I'm on top but only on occasion_

"What was I thinking?" Blaine exclaimed as he gesticulated wildly, flinging water everywhere. "I can't leave these guys! They're like family, I'm not going to abandon them my senior year! I know all of New Directions trade secrets, we're going to beat them this year and go to Nationals!"

David gaped at Blaine as Wes watched the proceedings with amusement. They were at the Warblers annual summer barbeque, the team's last get together before the seniors who had graduated left for college. Most of the boys were in a pool, locked in an epic game of volleyball. Blaine had only just escaped, pushing Thad into the pool as his replacement, to explain his current thoughts toward the transfer topic to his friends. They had exasperatedly listened to Blaine's flip-flopping attitude toward the topic for the last month, but this was the most exuberant they had seen him.

"You do realize Kurt knows the Warblers secrets, right?" Wes smirked. Blaine's flailing faltered momentarily, but after a few seconds his arms began windmilling again.

"That doesn't matter! We're going to change this year! We're going to make sure the incoming Warblers can sing _and_ dance. We tied with New Directions on singing ability alone, if we can step up our movement we'll have it in the bag!"

David slowly backed away from Blaine, holding his hands out in a placating gesture. "I'm almost glad we won't be here for Blaine's takeover, Wes."

"He'll be arranging weekly Gap Attacks at his rate," Wes said, frowning slightly as he realized the Warblers were no longer ruled under his iron fist.

"Kurt only knows our old secrets, he won't know anything about our new strategy, but I'll be able to get all the New Directions secrets, I can crack Kurt so easily," Blaine continued as though the two hadn't said anything.

"WHOA OKAY PLEASE STOP!" David yelled, covering his years. "I don't want to hear about how you crack Kurt!"

Silence fell over the party as all the Warblers slowly turned to stare at the trio, some smirking, others barely holding in laughter. Blaine blushed furiously. "Thank you for making that sound wildly inappropriate, David," he hissed. David just smirked as the other boys burst into laughter and returned to their previous entertainments.

"Still sure you want to stay at Dalton after that embarrassment?" Wes cheekily asked. Blaine simply glared at him.

"Okay, okay." Wes rolled his eyes. "Seriously, though, are you sure you want to stay at Dalton?"

Blaine looked at the sky thoughtfully for a moment. "Yes," he concluded. "I think it's where I will be happiest in the long run." His eyebrows started to furrow as he considered the last part of his sentence. "Or the short run, I suppose, because then I'll have to leave Dalton's safety and enter the real world." Blaine's euphoria at having made a decision quickly left him. He plopped down on the grass and watched his fellow Warblers confusedly.

David sat down next to him. "You still have a month and a half to decide, Blaine."

"Yeah, I know. Kurt keeps asking me if I've decided yet, though, and I'm still stuck at where I was when this all started. On the one hand I could stay where I'm comfortable with my friends and put off facing reality for another year. On the other hand, I could face it with the boy I love and be with him everyday. It's just too hard of a decision to make." Blaine threw himself backwards onto the ground and stared at the trees overhead, sighing.

"Have you talked to Kurt about all your concerns?" Wes probed, flinging himself down beside Blaine.

"No," Blaine swatted at the air as if the thought of broaching the topic with his boyfriend was nonsensical and unimportant. "If I do end up transferring I don't want him thinking he pushed me into it and took me away from my friends, and if I don't he'll think I don't love or trust him enough to face my fears with him."

"I though the point of a significant other was to have someone to share your problems with and help you through them."

"I guess so, and we do talk about other problems, but David..." Blaine sighed. "...this one just concerns him too much. I never would have considered transferring if he hadn't brought it up-"

"So you don't really want to transfer?"

"Shut up, David, he wasn't done yet."

" -but now that he has...I don't know. The thought of going to school with him again, eating lunch, passing notes in class, singing together...it seems so perfect."

"...so you really do want to transfer?"

Blaine sat up, eyes drawn toward the Warblers who had just burst out into song. "I don't know. Sometimes I think I do because I would love to have that back, but I would really miss these guys. The New Directions have an inane amount of drama, the club is so incestuous."

"Gross!"

"There's no actual sibling incest, they all just switch boyfriends and girlfriends within the club a lot. The Warblers are a lot more simple...we're just like a band of br-" Blaine's sentiment was cut off as a bucket of water was poured over his head. Spluttering, he looked around to see Wes and David in similar situations and Nick, Jeff, and Trent sprinting away.

"Stop gossiping and join the party!" Jeff yelled back at them. Exchanging identical devious glances, the three soaked teens leapt up and chased after their attackers.

* * *

><p><em>August<em>

_More than sure that I'm jaded/It's making me think things through/Oh I don't know about you _

'I think I will transfer. Kurt's stepbrother is on the football team, and so are a couple of the other guys in ND. I wouldn't get too hurt.' -Blaine

'But Kurt had to transfer to Dalton despite that because of bullying. Okay, I'm staying at Dalton.' -Blaine

'You know what, I need to grow a pair, I'm transferring.' -Blaine

'Fuck those assholes for terrifying me, they can't keep me from living my life.' -Blaine

'Did you just cuss?' -Wes

'You just cussed!' -David

'You weren't answering, I had to get your attention somehow.' -Blaine

'We aren't answering because you keep going back and forth so we figured we'd let you talk it out to yourself. Also, California girls. The Katy Perry song is accurate. We're distracted.' -Wes (and David)

'Sorry! I don't want to keep you guys from the whole college experience and you've been awesome at listening to me go on about this for almost three months. But I really am going to transfer. And of course Katy Perry's song is accurate, she's amazing.' -Blaine

'Okay, Mr. Teenage Dream, we know you worship her, no need to extol her virtues again.' -Wes

'And that's great that you've decided to transfer Blaine. We're proud of you. Have you told your parents what you've decided?' -David (and Wes)

'Can you just text from one phone, I know you guys are together and it's easier to have the conversation all together. (And she's a goddess, you know it's true.)' -Blaine

'Fine, we'll text from this phone.' -Wes

'Blaine.' -Wes

'Blaaaaaaaaine.' -Wes

'Blaine Blaine Blaine Blaine Blaine Blaine Blaine.' -Wes

'Katy Perry sucks.' -Wes

'Seriously, Blaine. We know you aren't doing anything today, why are you not answering? We're getting worried.' -Wes

'Parents.' -Blaine

'What about them?' -Wes

'I haven't even told my parents I'm considering transferring.' -Blaine

'...Are you serious? Blaine. ARE YOU SERIOUS? School starts next week!' -Wes

'YES I'M SERIOUS. What if they don't let me? Shit.' -Blaine

'YOU JUST CUSSED AGAIN!' -David

'I couldn't stop him from sending that from his phone, sorry. Calm down Blaine. If it's something you really want to do, they'll let you do it.' -Wes

'Have you met my parents? '-Blaine

'...yes? They're lovely.' -Wes

'What parent would allow their child to transfer back to a public school when said child was beaten at a public school when they can afford to send their child to a safe, private school where the child has friends and is involved and challenged by the curriculum?' -Blaine

Wes groaned and handed David $20, seeing where the conversation was leading. David smirked. "I told you he wasn't serious. He's not going to decide until the very last minute."

'No sane parent would. Okay then, I'm not transferring. My parents would never even consider letting me, and I must have been crazy to even consider putting myself in that position.' -Blaine

'If that's what you've decided Blaine, then good for you. Say hi to the Warblers for us.' -Wes

* * *

><p><em>September<em>

_I don't know where I'm going/I'm caught up in all that's you/And I don't know what to do_

Blaine looked around the room and the Warblers assembled as Thad explained the agenda for their first early morning meeting of the year. Something was missing. Something important. Realizing what it was, Blaine began to steel himself for what he was about to do.

"So, as the only remaining counsel member, I have tallied the election votes."

"And Blaine's in," someone piped up immediately, and the rest of the Warblers nodded enthusiastically, grinning at their lead vocalist.

"I don't accept. I'm withdrawing my name from the ballot," Blaine stated calmly. The room exploded around him as Warblers demanded to know why. Blaine held up his hands. "Warblers!" he yelled, effectively silencing them. He slowly stood and straightened his tie, then walked to stand in front of the desk.

"I can't accept this nomination because after today, I will no longer be a Warbler." He quickly raised his hands to silence the outrage he could see approaching.

"What do you mean Warbler Blaine?" Thad questioned, looking confused. "We can work around other extracurricular schedules."

"I'm not joining another extracurricular. I'm leaving Dalton."

Silence enveloped the room. After a tense few seconds, someone finally managed to croak out, "Why?"

"I'm transferring," Blaine said. He slowly looked around the room, taking in the shocked expressions and feeling sadness enter his heart. "To McKinley."

"McKinley?" Nick spat. "You're going to be in New Directions? Is it because they beat us?"

"No," Blaine said firmly. "Absolutely not. I truly believe the Warblers can beat New Directions this year, with or without me." He took a deep, shuddering breath. "I...I've struggled with this all summer, and I only just decided to transfer. I came to Dalton because of bullying, but it's time I face the bullies and prove to myself that I can stand up to them. And I need to do it now, before I go to the real world where it's worse...and Kurt's at McKinley. If it wasn't for my fear, I would have transferred in a heartbeat. I love you guys, and I'll miss you but...I miss him more." The missing piece. Kurt. He had just seen him yesterday, but already he missed him. How could he let his fear keep him from being whole?

Blaine leaned against the desk as his teammates...now former teammates...processed what they had been told. After a few minutes of muttered conversations and contemplative silences, Jeff slowly rose from where he was seated and walked over to Blaine. Clapping him on the shoulder, he said "We understand. We're going to miss you and there's no way we'll have a chance against you at Sectionals, but we get it. And we're proud of you for doing this, Blaine. You know there's a number of us here who came to Dalton for the same reason and what you're doing...it's admirable. Tell Kurt hi for us."

Blaine looked at Jeff tremulously for a second before embracing him. Slowly, he made his way around the room, exchanging goodbyes with his friends and promising he'd be back to visit and would of course be at all the Warbler parties (with Kurt), telling them he wouldn't hold back at Sectionals, swearing to Thad that he wouldn't divulge any Warbler secrets to his new glee club, and lamenting over the fact that he probably wouldn't be able to jump on as much furniture at McKinley.

* * *

><p>'Guess what?' -Blaine<p>

'Is this another game of flip-flop transfer?' -Wes

'You and Kurt did it?' -David

'Ignore David, we're on the same phone now.' -Wes

'Nice David, real nice. That's not your business. Wes' guess was closer.' -Blaine

'Closer but not right. Did you finally decide for real?' -Wes

'Yeah.' -Blaine

'And?' -Wes

'I'm standing in my new school, surrounded by my new glee club, and I'm not scared because the boy I love is with me.' -Blaine

'Parents sign off on it?' -Wes

'Dad convinced Mom it will be good for me. I think he just wants me to be around girls again. Mom's putting away Dalton tuition for college.' -Blaine

'...we don't believe you.' -Wes

'I seriously transferred. Text any of the Warblers, I told them yesterday.' -Blaine

'You paid them off.' -Wes

'Blaine transferred. I have a video of his first performance as a member of ND and will send it to you tonight. Go check out California girls now, my boyfriend and I need to practice.' -Kurt

'Still don't believe you!' -Wes

'Practice? Last time you guys 'practiced' you were making out and lost us Regionals...' -David

'Got it right this time, David' -Blaine

* * *

><p>You'll notice that in this, Blaine's reason for transferring isn't really because he loves Kurt; Kurt was the catalyst that led to it, and ultimately Kurt was the deciding factor, but there's so much more to it than that, and I do believe Blaine really did have to consider all the factors before deciding. I wish Glee had actually gotten into the finer points of the dilemma (just as I wish they had shown a scene of Blaine telling the Warblers he's transferring), instead of making it seem like a romantic gesture. And yes, they didn't <em>exactly<em> play it out that way on the show, but it was more focused on the love part of it rather than other factors, which makes it a bit unbelievable, and that's why Kurt was more of an aside in this. Transferring is a big deal, it's not something done on a whim, which is why Blaine struggled with it for so long and ran over the initial deadline Kurt set. Also, SPOILER I've chosen to ignore the recent rumor that Blaine is actually a junior. A-that complicates the transfer thing A LOT and makes it incredibly unbelievable and B-he's still a senior to me until it is confirmed officially.


End file.
